Welcome to reality
by Kit Marin
Summary: It's for your own good mon amour. There's no such thing as-


"F-francis what are you doing?"

"Be still mon amour. This is for the better. Just go with them, oui?"

"No! Let me go! Bloody hell Francis! Call them off!"

The frenchman sighed, stepping back and letting the good doctors gently lead arthur through the doors, following them when they said it was okay. He loved the man, but after seeing him leaning almost fully out of a third story window to try and pet one of his "fairies"...the frenchman finally decided enough was enough. He needed to help Arthur before he lost his lover to his fantasy world, and since the light medication he tried to urge into Arthurs hands was either ignored or ineffective he only knew one other place to turn to.

Welcome to Reality

Arthur refused to look at Francis when they were finally left alone in the small apartment like room that was normal except for the large pane of glass where doctors were surely watching them on the other side. He felt utterly betrayed...and after he'd gotten Francis to accept his friends, or at least SAY he accepted them...

"...Arthur please look at me...I did no' do this to 'urt you"

"Bugger off. I don't want to see you."

"Arthur..." Francis tried again...but when he got nothing but a cold shoulder he sighed and went to the door, closing and locking it behind him.

"It's for the best sir. You did the right thing by calling us" the doctor gently insisted, getting a nod of agreement from the chef.

"I know 'e will be upset...just do no' 'urt 'im"

"Of course not sir. We don't do things as we used to. We won't harm him unless he assults us first"

and with that promise the frenchman retired to a room they had set nearby, only allowing him to stay the first night to ensure Arthur wouldn't do anything too rash right away.

"They're going to try to make me ignore you" Arthur whispered to the green flying rabbit in his lap, stroking it's fur to soothe it, "but it won't work. You're all been my best friends for centuries. No doctor is going to change that". They seemed calmed, the entire group that had come with him snuggling against him or laying nearby, wanting to be as close to their friend as possible to comfort him in this strange place...they could sense that he was just as frightened as they were with what might happen.

The lot of them jumped when the door opened first thing in the morning, a woman who was dressed in an apron and a small hat, 'very cliché' Arthur noted, walking in and setting a tray of food on a small table near him, two tiny fairies having to scramble out of the way so they wouldn't be squished by it. "Here you are dear. Make sure to eat it all and take your medication alright? Everything will be easier if you just do what the nice doctors say."

Arthur glared at her for speaking to him as if he was a small child, daring her to say something else...and feeling himself puff up slightly with pride when she left. Once alone again he glanced at the little ones closest to his food, softly whispering "I wouldn't eat that...unless you think it's safe. They might have drugged it...". After a small inspection with tiny hands they seemed to decide it was safe enough, urging Arthur to eat it and keep up his strength. The small plastic cup with its nasty green pill going ignored.

"Angleterre... Arthur please look at me..."

"..."

Francis sighed and looked at the ground helplessly for a moment...then moved closer, gently kissing Arthur's cheek.

"They will no' allow me to stay any longer, but I will visit you as often as I can, d'accord?"

The green eyes that had been narrowly glaring a hole into the wall widened and darted back to meet sapphire, fear rapidly bubbling up beyond what his emotional facade could hide, "w-wut? You're leaving? Why? B-but we have a business meeting soon! You have to take me with you!". He still didn't know what these so called doctors wanted to do to him and the approaching meeting meant Francis would have to fly away and leave him for nearly a week solid for work. Alone with the men known for forced needles and mental traps for everything he said... "Francis please don't leave me here!".

He knew the blond was tempted, he could see the pain in his eyes, the reluctance to leave him alone was obvious...but there was a new hint of determination that would have otherwise been absent and let him win with his pleas.

"...Non...je suis desolé mon amour, but this is for your own good. I'll have mattieu take care of your work until you're well again."

He was above the tiny whimper of fear that escaped him when Francis kissed him goodbye and he was far too old for those tiny clinging hands buried in the frenchman's coat. He wasn't a tiny nation anymore damn it...so why did he feel like an abandoned child when Francis pried his hands off and scurried out of sight?

No matter how his friends urged him he refused to eat the next meal they brought, only chancing a drink from the sink he'd been given rather than whatever water they offered. He wasn't hungry anyway...

Still in shock with a bruised heart the little englishman forced himself into silence, glaring at the doctors whenever they came close, wanting nothing to do with whatever help they were trying to offer...that was...until they brought in a young girl.

Not to say he was attracted by her, it was just...her eyes looked everywhere but at him when she walked into the room. She was smiling gently almost directly at his friends, gently brushing them aside before sitting beside him on the bed...did..she have the sight? The little ones looked just as confused and excited as him...

"Hello Arthur. I'd like to talk with you. Would that be okay?"

"...can...you see them?"

"Would you like to talk to me about them?"

Arthur nodded before thinking, his eyes lighting up at the idea of being able to discuss their existence, the thrill of having someone else to share them with. Except for the occasional young child it was a VERY rare treat after all, "Yes. Yes please!".

They sat there for what felt like half a day...She asked him soft questions with her hands always folded in her lap, politely declining his offer to pet the green bunny in his arms and offering her own experiences with them...it was incredible! The brit was absolutely amazed at how closely her stories lined up with his! The places she'd seen them even sounded familiar!

"Well Arthur, I'm sorry to say my time is up, but would you like to speak with a friend of mine now? I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you as well."

"Yes please!" he answered without thinking, watching her stand...and leave, her presence replaced with a gentle eyed man in a white coat...oh.

"Hello Arthur. That was quite a long conversation you two had! I thought I'd never get my chance to meet you!"

"Hn." A doctor. No thank you. The brit clamped his teeth shut again and sat up straight, glaring at the man and letting that single noise be all that he was going to offer.

"...You don't want to speak to me at all do you?" he paused as Arthur shook his head and sighed "that's a shame...Look. I'm going to be honest with you. This process can be completely painless with nothing for you to lose if you just tell us what we want to hear. Understand?"

Arthur blinked...relaxing a little bit at how strange and forward that seemed. Just..lie to them? And they'd let him go? Well shit, that seemed a hell of a lot easier than fighting them every step of the way!

"Well...what do you want to hear?"

"That you don't see them anymore." The man answered easily, beaming at him "that you're willing to take the medication we give you, simple vitamins and chemicals that are supposed to help children with nightmares and such, and that you're not going to hurt yourself or anyone else. Can you do that for me for a week?"

The brit frowned...considering this...slowly nodding after a while to the absolute horror of the little ones perched around him. If lying meant he'd get to live with them freely then he'd be willing to do so. "Alright...I'll tell you that I don't see them." this made the little ones relax a little more, catching on to what he meant to do now "I hadn't planned on hurting anyone in the first place...and if the medicine really won't do any harm to u-...me...then I'll put up with it."

"Alright!" The doctor chirped, offering a hand to Arthur and giving it a firm shake "We have a deal! Just don't mention this to the other doctors of my friend okay? This will just be our little secret!"

The brit couldn't help but smile a bit at how...animated the man was, watching him walk away as if he'd really accomplished something sneaky...letting the brit forget for those few moments that they were under constant watch by the other doctors that were apparently not supposed to know about their "secret".

The next day when presented with the young woman he wasn't sure what to do...he attempted to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about to begin with but when she seemed almost upset by it he gave in and started speaking with her about them again. The pills brought to him with lunch were yellow this time..and while he was hesitant and curious about the color change he convinced himself it was simply the lighter formula the doctor promised him and swallowed them anyway.

It was roughly three in the afternoon when his eyes started to hurt him no matter how many times he rubbed them or shut them to let them rest. A small nagging started tugging at the back of his mind and he felt...oddly chilled... A side effect maybe? He started running his head rapidly over the other types of allergic reactions symptoms there were before a loud high-pitched twinkling shriek stabbed his ears. He whipped around from where he'd been standing in the bathroom doorway, watching his sweet bunny curl up tight on his pillow, some of the fairies around it doubling over, several shrieks like the one before attacking him and causing a panic in the larger ones that hadn't been affected.

Behind the glass the doctors sighed and shook their heads, watching Arthur sprint across the room and kneel by his bed, lifting up hands full of air and speaking in frantic whispers to it...he'd only gotten worse, and together they agreed to up the dosage again.

"What the hell did you give me!" Arthur demanded when the good doctor walked into the room, getting a sympathetic look in return.

"I'm really sorry Arthur, but my friend was talking about the conversation you and her were having and the doctors overheard. You know they won't go easy on you if you keep saying you see them! I told you to keep quiet about it if you wanted them to leave you alone didn't I?"

Arthur paused a moment...understanding now what the man had meant before, nodding like a contented child "Ah, I see...Alright. I'll keep quiet next time...but until then, I don't have to take the yellow ones anymore do I?"

"Of course not."

True to his word, the next set of pills were red and though the fairies seemed reluctant to allow him to swallow them he gently insisted that they weren't trying to fool him a second time and swallowed the medicine given to him.

This time he didn't feel any different until nearly two in the morning...but once those chills hit he was fully awake and frightened, checking over his little ones to make sure they were all okay... He sighed and relaxed when they continued to gently sleep, counting them...one missing...then went on a hunt through his room to find her.

When he headed back towards his bed, scratching his head in confusion and concern, he finally spotted her floating near the ceiling in the middle of the room, staring at the others and at him...

He smiled at her, opening his mouth to greet her with a whisper-

-only to watch her light flicker...the sweet things wings going still long enough for her to flutter towards the ground. He caught her, but just barely...

His shouts and pleas woke up the others and one again had the doctors shaking their heads behind the glass, insisting that more desperate measures be taken if Arthur was going to get any better...unaware that the brit was being forced to watch a childhood friend die in his hands because of his own horrible judgment...

When she visited him the next day he forced himself not to speak, ignoring her questions and pushing away her stories...he'd watched the beautiful mix of lights crackle and fade into nothing but grey dust in his palms and had to comfort the other little ones until sun up...he wasn't going to give himself way again. When she pushed and prodded, asking what the one nearest to her was named he just very sarcastically snapped at her.

"What one? There's nothing here. You've got to be insane."

She stopped...stared at him a while...then got up and walked out. Finally the doctors behind the glass smiled. Their first victory.

The medication turned into small pills that he recognized as aspirin which he took gladly since his head was pounding horribly from the previous horrible things they'd given him. They backed off for another meal before the green pills they'd started with settled on his tray with a small piece of paper torn off and tucked under his napkin.

'Good job! I heard my friend talking about how you hadn't seen anything and the doctors backed off! I got to talk with them and insist they lower your dosage again. Remember these? They're just ones to calm you down and help you sleep, we gave them to you when you first arrived too! Enjoy your rest!'

Arthur sighed in relief, his head and eyes hurting him too much to really think his "friendship" with the good doctor over properly and his ears were ringing too strong to hear the squeaky protests as he swallowed the sleep aids. By the time he laid back on the bed and snuggled up to digest his dinner...the medicine was already working too strong to let him hear the already distant cries for him.

Arthur woke up alone.

"You are...sure he is alright?"

"Yes of course sir. As we said, we didn't harm him in the least"

"And..he does no' see them anymore?" 

"No sir."

"May I see 'im?"

"See who Francis?" Arthur asked as he walked around the corner, his suitcase in his hand and a smile on his face. Hell, he even laughed a little when the frenchman attacked him with those sweet pecks of affection. "Bloody hell lad, calm down! I'm fine!"

"Oui! So you are!"

No he wasn't.

But unless he said he was they'd never let him leave. Never let him get back to his house and down into his basement where he had the powers to bring his friends back...it wasn't until he'd drawn out his circles and laid what he needed in the right places that he realized he couldn't read the spells anymore, and what little he had in his memory did nothing...

Welcome to reality.

There's no such thing as .


End file.
